Crude Oil Futures

  The US crude oil inventories have been falling for the past few weeks, which manage to keep the price of crude oil at the current level, without being subjected to wild fluctuations. The numbers, both from the API, American Petroleum Institute and the EIA, US Energy Information Administration, sometimes, diverge, though. For instance, the figures for the week ending September, 17, were 6.1 million barrels and 3.5 million barrels respectively; the figure of the EIA is much smaller than what it was for the week ending September, 10, which cannot be easily accounted for, as there was a drop in production in the US due to Hurricane Ida. In the early hours on Thursday, the two main benchmarks performed as shown below: The fact that the inventories did not build up in recent weeks is a relief for the crude oil markets, which have been gripped by emerging uncertainties over the steady supply of crude oil to the international markets. The vulnerability of Saudi oil infrastructure by

  After months of uncertainty over the revival of the JCPOA, 2015 Iranian deal, the diplomatic moves are fully underway to restart the negotiations. Both President Biden and President Raisi of Iran hinted that the next round of talks is in the offing in Vienna, the Austrian capital. If Iran is allowed to enter the global crude oil markets, increased output that the consumers can only dream of at present is going to become a reality: on one hand, Iran, in the middle of a dire economic situation, compounded by the pandemic, needs to sell its oil to bolster its coffers; on the other hand, the world, hit by an acute supply crunch of gas, does not want yet another energy supply disaster, especially reeling from a catastrophic impact on the economies due to the pandemic. Politicians, regardless of where they come from, rarely give a straight answer to a straight question. It was no different when it came to the Iranian nuclear issue and the JCPOA either. As always it is the case, we

Oil prices remain steady on Tuesday, despite the worrying trend that analysts saw on Monday. Having debated the health of China’s economy for weeks, if not months, it’s now clear for analysts that China’s oil imports are showing the signs of recovery in spite of the country tapping its strategic petroleum reserves to curb the rising prices. China has already attributed the high price of raw materials that is directly related to the high oil price to its slow rate of economic growth from July to August. The sudden outbreaks of clusters of the Delta variant, meanwhile, dealt a severe blow to reviving its vast economy. China, however, managed to control the outbreak successfully and take steps to power up the engines of growth, amidst the worries about the health of its property market. The encouraging data from China regarding the oil imports may have boosted the investor’s confidence in the crude oil markets, reflected by modest rises in oil price. Both the API, American Petro

  The price of crude oil significantly fell on Monday defying the usually favourable factors to the contrary such as the drop in the US crude oil inventories and the clear upward trend of global demand. As of 10:30 GMT, WTI and Brent recorded $70.51 and $74.04 respectively; the prices of both benchmarks fell by nearly 2%. Of course, the Delta variant has not gone away yet, but there is a decline in the rate of infections and deaths across the world. Apart from random lockdowns, the pandemic does not petrify the masses anymore, as we slowly come to terms with its presence among us and adapt ourselves just to live with it. In light of this, the demand for crude oil is back on track and almost at pre-pandemic levels in many parts of world: factories are back in operation; traffic is back on roads; life is limping back to the new-normal. Then, what on earth is going on with the price of crude oil? It is true that the major oil importers in the world such as China and India are reso

  Analysts are keen on watching the crude oil markets on Monday, especially after a lacklustre performance during the past few days, despite a substantial drop in the US crude stocks. Both, the EIA, US Energy Information Administration, and the API, American Petroleum Institute, reported larger-than expected crude inventory fall. The figures were 6.4 million barrels and 1.3 million barrels respectively. In addition, the US oil rig count shows an increase as well, having been in passive mode for months. The movement of oil prices on the investors’ screens, however, did not reflect the usual effect associated with such a drop. On the contrary, for the most part on Friday, the crude oil price remained red in the screens of analysts and investors alike. Since the Delta variant of the Coronavirus appears to be on the wane, having wreaked havoc in the world, especially in Asia, analysts hope the region will put the crisis behind while taking the resilience in its stride. That means t